Cushion sole shoe



May 10, 1938.

H. G. LUMBARD CUSHION SOLE SHOE Filed Nov. 6, 1937 Patented May 10, 19382,117,183

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE REISSUED CUSHION SOLE SHOE Henry G. Lumbard,Auburn, Maine DEB 1 -1940 Application November 6, 1937, Serial No.173,181

4 Claims. .(Cl. 36-19) This invention relates to cushion sole shoes and,in one aspect, comprises a novel shoe structure having a soft resilientsurface throughout the entire bottom beneath the foot of the wearer,

into the cushion layer in substantial contact with shoe carries aleather heel, the ends of the attaching nails are clenched and similarlyem- 5 the shoe being so constructed as to maintain bedded in the cushionlayer leaving a continu- Without distortion or reduction the fullmeasureous, soft, resilient surface beneath the heel of ments of thelast. In this important respect the the wearer. shoe of my inventiondiffers from many cushion 1 The novel insole of my invention may beemshoes heretofore available in which the cushion pl'oyed with goodadvantage in any shoe of the member is inserted after the last has beenwith- McKay lasted type such as the McKay, Compo 10 drawn, in such afashion as to occupy space or Littleway or in any shoe having a line ofwhich should be reserved for the contour of the stitching normallylocated beneath the foot of wearer's foot. the wearer, or in any othertype of shoe where In another aspect, my invention comprises a it isdesired to provide a continuous resilient novel insole made by unitingpermanently in cushion immediately under the wearers foot. In 15,face-to-face contact a continuous layer of soft all such shoes a verybeneficial cushioning effect resilient cushion material, such forexample as is introduced and strong, long-wearing shoe cork and rubbercomposition, with a layer of structure achieved without any substantialin- 7 sheet insole material. Any tough and flexible crease ofmanufacturing cost. 2Q sheet material supplied commercially to the Thefeatures and advantages of my inventrade for insoles is suitable for theunderlying tion will be best understood and appreciated layer or ply ofmy novel insole. While I do from the following description of a shoemade not wish to limit myself to a cork and rubber in accordancetherewith selected for purposes composition for the cushion layer, thismaterial of illustration and shown in the accompanying presentsimportant advantages in that after it drawing in which V has been unitedto the base material of the in- Fig. l is a view in perspectiveillustrative of the sole it may be severely flexed in either directionstep of preparing the insole, without ribbing or slipping andconsequently it Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the complete remainsperfectly smooth in use. The flexibility shoe with portions of the upperbroken away,

of the cushion layer may be further increased or and 30 mechanicallycontrolled by providing it with a .Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectionalview through series of perforations throughout its forepart. the shankand heel part of the shoe. By opening or closing in the flexing of theinsole In preparing the insole of my invention I may these perforationscontribute to its flexibility as employ any tough,-flexible sheetmaterial comwell as introduce a ventilating action in the shoe monlyused for such purposes. A suitable and 35 bottom. preferred material isshown in Fig. l as a com- An important feature of my invention bepositesheet having a central section of a tough, comes apparent when thecushion insole of my flexible pulp product with transversecorrugainvention is employed in a shoe of the McKay tions rolled intoits lower face and having edge 40 or Littleway type in that it permitsthe seam to sections I l and H of somewhat stiffer fibre board. 40 beembedded in the cushion layer and thus This composite sheet material isavailable in the entirely free the foot of the wearer from contactmarket as insole material. To this 'fibrous under: with the seam. Infact, if desired, the seam may lying ply I unite by cement incontin'uousfacebe drawn entirely through the cushion layer of to-facecontact a ply l3 which is flexible, resilient the insole so that itrenders directly upon the and softer than the underlying ply. This maybe 45 tough base layer. A tight seam is thus seany suitable cushionmaterial although I prefer cured without impairing in any respect thesoft, to use a composite sheet of ground cork and flexible, continuoussurface contacting with the rubber, comprising about 70% of cork andabout foot of the wearer. 30% of rubber. This is not only valuable inits Similarly'the character of the heel seat is imcushioning effect butis light, substantially water- 50 proved not only in a shoe of the McKaytype, proof and highly effective as a heat insulator. but in any shoebecause of the fact that the The two plies may be permanently andsecurely heel attaching nails may be embedded in the united by cementunder pressure and having been cushion layer. It the shoe carries awooden heel once securely united may be treated subsequently the headsof the attaching nails may be sunk as a single integral sheet. In Fig. lis suggested 55 thestep of dieing out from this sheet an insole, thelatter being so located in respect to the sheet that the stiif fibresection I! at one edge of the sheet is cut into the heel seat of theinsole, while the shank and forepart includes the more flexible centralsection l0. Ordinarily the insoles will be cut alternately rights andlefts with the heel seat and toe portions including alternately edgesections II and ll of the underlying ply.

Having prepared the insole as above outlined, it may be incorporated inany type of McKay or cement lasted shoe. It is herein shown as employedin a McKay sewn shoe in which the upper I4 is lasted over upon themargin of the underlying ply l0-l2 of the insole leaving the cushionlayer l3 extending continuously beneath the foot of the wearer. Theoutsole I5 is secured to the shoe bottom by a McKay seam I6 of chainstitches which pass through the insole and the body of the outsole I5,being concealed therein in a channel provided for that purpose. As shownin Fig. 3 the stitches are drawn substantially through the cushioninglayer l3 of the insole and practically into engagement with theconcealed face of the underlying fibre ply of the insole. Theflexibility of the shoe bottom is thus improved and the stitches removedentirely from the possibility of contact with the foot of the wearer.

The illustrated shoe is shown as being provided with a wooden heel I!attached by a group of headed nails driven from inside the shoe into theheel. The heads of these nails are driven substantially through thecushion layer l3 of the insole into engagement with the underlying fibrelayer I, in this way supplying a secure and reliable means of attachmentand being entirely removed from contact with the foot of the wearer. Itwill be apparent that in shoes having leather heels attached by nailsdriven through the heel and into the heel seat of the sole, the clenchedends of the attaching nails will be similarly embedded in the cushionlayerl3 and removed from contact with the foot of the wearer.

The insole employed in the shoe ofFig. 2 is shown as provided with agroup of perforations in its forepart within the attaching seam. This isan optional feature and may be employed to increase the flexibility ofthe shoe bottom and mechanically control it to a certain degree. Theperforations are also useful as imparting a ventilating action to thecushion layer when the shoe is worn.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a cushion surface of uniformthickness beneath the entire area of the foot, at the same time shapingthe shoe to leave available the full volume of the last. While I havenot shown the illustrated shoe as provided with a sock lining, it willbe understood that a sock lining will usually be employed in order toimprove the appearance of the inside of the shoe. The novel insole notonly has all the advantages above mentioned, but has the capacity toresist long wear without disintegration, without buckling or wrinklingbemerated, it makes possible economies in the cost of shoe manufacturingwhich are of great importance to the manufacturer.

While I have suggested cutting the underlying layer of the insole fromsheet material it will be understood that this portion of the insole canbe cut to size separately from leather or other sheet material and thecushioned layer then secured to it to form the unit. The insole may beemployed with good advantage in McKay, Littleway or cement shoes. Itmakes no difference how the lasting is done and serves equally well intack, staple or cement lasted shoes, or in any shoe where an insole maybe employed. The perforations shown in the insole need not be limited tothe space within the attaching seam, but may be distributed over theentire forepart of the insole if desired without affecting themanufacture of the shoe.

For the sake of appearance a thin, flexible cover layer may be bonded tothe surface of the cushion layer thus obviating the necessity of aseparate sock lining. When used in a shoe having a stitched bottom thethread would have a tendency to pull through the thin cover down intoand in some cases, through the cushion until it engages the harder andtougher underlying layer.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent,

1. An improved insole having a tough underlying ply of fibrous materialwhich is flexible throughout the shank and forepart of the sole andstiff throughout its heel seat, and a soft flexible ply of cork andrubber composition extending continuously and homogeneously throughoutthe entire area of the sole and beingunited in continuous face-to-faceengagement to said underlying ply.

2. An improved cushion insole having a tough underlying ply of fibrousmaterial which is flexible throughout the forepart of the sole and stiffthroughout its heel seat and toe portions, and a soft flexible ply of acork composition extending continuously andhomogeneously throughout theentire area of the sole and being united in continuous face-to-faceengagement to said underlying fibrous ply.

3. An improved cushion insole having a tough underlying ply of fibrousmaterial which is flexible throughout the forepart of the sole and stiffthroughout its heel seat, and a soft flexible ply of cork compositionextending continuously and homogeneously in substantially uniformthickness throughout the entire area of the sole and being cemented incontinuous face-to-face engagement to said fibrous underlying ply.

4. A cushion sole shoe of the McKay type having an insole comprising atough underlying ply of fibrous material which is flexible throughoutthe forepart of the sole and stiff throughout its heel seat, 'and a softflexible ply of a cork composition extending continuously andhomogeneously throughout the entire area of the sole and being united incontinuous face-to-face contact to said underlying ply, and an outsoleattached to the shoe bottom by stitches pulled partially through thecork ply and into substantial engagement with the tough underlying plyof the insole.

' HENRY G. LUMIBARD.

